Glacier National Park by Kenny & Kristen
Posted on 2016-09-09
This trip was scheduled in a bit of a rush and mystery. During my trip to San Jose I ran in to a good frined from high school - Kristen and we hatched this plan to visit glacier. We kept in contact after our run in and both had interest in making this happen and then next thing I knew, Kristen had already bought the tickets and we had an adventure in the books. The next-next thing I know, i'm hopping off a plane in Kalispell Montana.
Glacier...This place is like nothing I had ever seen before. As I watched from the teeny window on the plane, I could see the landscape go from flat fields to rising snow capped mountains. To say I was excited was an understatement! Upon walking out of the plan to get the rental car, I ran in to an extremely nice couple who freely gave me two cans of bear spray and a somewhat used can of propane (great for the jetboil Chad let me use!). The Trip was starting out great so far! At this point Kristen was set to arrive a few hours after me so I grabbed the rental car and headed towards town to grab some lunch and do some general exploring until she arrived.
Once Kristen landed, we loaded her up in the car and set out for Glacier! As your driving you cant help but get excited because you can see the mountain ranges you're about to enter and you can only imagine what is in store (That along with a fantastic music playlist of old school blink-182 and eminem). The drive in took about an hour and a half once we turned on to Going to The Sun Road (GTTSR for short), Luckily we were there right before the snow normally starts so the road was open all the way through.
Our first stop was Avalanche campground! We knew we were going to arrive late and grabbing a campsite may be tough since it was first come first serve - but we arrived right before dark and pitched up camp. Since Glacier is particular about conservation, we made a quick out and back to the camp store for some firewood and on our way back we saw a black bear about a mile out from our campsite! Whoa! Our fire was a little lousy but it was good enough to keep us warm from the dropping temps and to enjoy a few PB&J's before hitting the sack. It felt pretty awesome finally being out there, the stars were bright, bears were around, and we were in for an amazing little trip!
Day two came early, we packed up before sunrise and headed farther down GTTSR to Rising Sun campground. After arriving and setting up camp we set out to logains pass where our goal was to hike the high line trail. We knew it would be a long one but we had no idea how amazing it would be. The morning started out chilly but the day finished near 70 degrees! Not to mention there were just to many beautiful sights to mention on this hike. We had a run in with a few Rams, a glacier and the beautiful Granite Park Chalet to naem a few. All while walking along the side of a mountain with nothing but georgous mountains surrounding you.
The highlight on this trail, for me at least, was the Grinnel Glacier Overlook. This was a steep cut off trail that was only about .6 miles long, but the grade was killer. It was a hafty hike to the top, but once there the view was surreal. THe wind was also blowing about 40 miles an hour and the temperature was much colder but the image literally could brighten any day. If you check out my video of the trip(excuse the wind, it is loud), you'll see my face light up around 4:15. This place is no joke majestic.
After finishing up that days hike we hoped a bus would come take us back to logans pass(there was a mystery weather the busses were actually running or not - turns out they were and we were saved!). after getting back to the car we made our way back to camp and started to prepare some dinner. The main course? Silver turtles! Chicken, peppers, onions and potatos cooked in Aluminium foil. This turned out great and we we didnt even to snag some free pepper from the campground restaurant! After dinner we relaxed by the campfire and made some smores of course! And when the sun started to go down we let the fire settle and moved toward the ten to play cards before heading to bed. Turns out, neither I or Kristen remembered how to play go fish, so we made up our own rules for a few rounds then decided it was time to turn in.
Day three we decided to hang out at rising sun and make the commute back to logans’ pass to hopefully catch sunrise at hidden lake overlook. The lake was definitely hidden due to a mass bit of fog, so we made it back to the car, ate some breakfast and drove up to Many Glacier to make some of the hikes that way. Once we arrived we did a quick 4 or so miles out and back to Red Rock falls. Right at the start of this hike we got a fair trickle of rain (we were in the midst of a fair storm brewing it seems but more on that in a moment) but ran in to a couple who were sighting a moose out in the distance. We did our best to find it but without binoculars we didn’t stand a chance. At our return we made it in before lunch time so we made some quick PB&J's (if you can’t tell this was the golden bit of food for our trip) and decided to take a longer hike while we were there so we headed off to Iceberg Lake! This was a beautiful trek that took us along the side of a mountain where we spotted a bear with her cub eating a ram they had taken down. Further on down the trail, that storm I mentioned rolled in pretty well and we proceeded to get nearly 6 inches of snow by the time we hit the lake at the top. We did have one of those moments were we had to determine if we should turn back or not, but of course we were so close we couldn’t go back now! So we finished off the hike where Kristen proceeded to become a popsicle and my pants froze solid (Pro-tip - jeans are not the best for snow hiking). It was an amazingly pretty sight though, so after a few pictures we head back to the many glacier campground. After making it back we were both pretty tired and cold (we were looking forward to the heated seats of the rental car a lot!) but made use of the first shower we could get since the start of the trip - the warm water works wonders! After cleaning up we headed back to camp where we learned rising sun would be closed the next day. So of course we made some dinner first and then discussed our next plan to move about. The main course this night? Kielbasa sausage and baked beans! (With some leftover chicken and potatoes from the first night.)
Day 4 rolled in with a poor outlook. We had plans to make it down to Two Medicine campground where we would pitch camp and then start on the pitamakin pass, but the same storm was still around and the upper parts of the pass were covered in clouds. We decided to start the trail anyways to see how it would go and if the weather was fair we would make it happen. Four or so miles up the trail we discovered that the weather was not fair as we were trailblazing the first steps to the pass in 6 inches of snow once again (and once again i was still in jeans). So we turned off to one of Dawson pass to no name lake and had a snack, then turned back and made our way around the lower part of the mountain towards twin falls, upper two medicine and Rockwell falls. Upon approaching the south shore trailhead we were feeling the pressure of the 60 miles we had hiked in the past three days, so once we made it to the parking lot we took a stop at a bench overlooking two medicine and grabbed a quick picture =D. We made it back to camp where we made our last fire and cooked our last meal - easy mac with tuna and kielbasa sausage - and s'more s’mores o'course! The temps were to drop to the upper teens that night so we warmed up best we could by the fire and once the lights went out (the lights of nature that is) we headed to bed.
Day 5 was another early day, we had to pack up everything and make the drive back to Kalispell in order to make our flights back. The tent had frozen in some places with ice covering it and there was a thin layer of ice on the ground. We both stayed plenty warm (there was actually condensation on the outside of my sleeping bag which I though was weird) and both froze as we chucked our gear into the back of the car - we would fold it up tight once we could dry it off in Kalispell - and drove back to town. We stopped at a Walmart to let our gear dry in the parking lot and at the same time pack up our bags nice and tight for the return trip. Once done, we cleaned out the car - left the bear spray for the next folks who get the car and headed to the airport. Fortunately we had the same plane back to Minnesota where we had our last lunch together before parting ways. This was definitely a trip to remember.
